Weekend Reading Brings Remedies

Get out and have fun An interesting article and resource center are just a click away.

When you leave a job to start your own business, is it possible, legal, or even ethical to market your services to contacts you made through that job?

Entrepreneur.com explores this question through the article, “Taking Customers With You When You Start a Business.”

This is not only great reading if you work for another company; it’s also good to review if you work with independent contractors who have access to your client list.

Embarq, a telephone company based in North Carolina, recently launched an online Business Resource Center. Take a look at the offerings, which includes an article on questions to consider before creating office forms, a subject mentioned here in a previous post.

Like many small and solo business owners, I’ll do a little work this weekend, but most of my time will be spent away from the office. One place I’ll visit is a flea market, which you see in the photo. I love a bargain.

Technorati Tags: Entrepreneur.com, Embarq, small business marketing, solo business owner

If the information shared here benefits your success, please subscribe to my RSS feed!

September 29, 2006 | Filed Under Online Ideas, Recent Entries, Solo Housekeeping | Leave a Comment

Three Ways to Maintain Your Marketing Motivation

Getting it all done This week I’ve shared with you some of the marketing projects I’m pursuing. It’s by no means everything on my agenda, but it does give you an idea on how my day progresses.

In 16 years of business, I’ve heard the question, “What do you do all day?” countless times by people who work at traditional jobs. Such a question confirms that some are born to create their own destinies and others are destined to be led by another person.

If you work by yourself, you’re in charge of answering this question by devising strategies and making the connections that put food on the table every day. But sometimes you become weary, and your shoulders get tired of carrying the load. You’re in good company.

Here’s a list of three ways I stay motivated. Depending on my mood, at least one method works to boost my energy as I run this never-ending marathon. I hope one will also help you.

1. Write the entire blueprint before starting a project. You’d be surprised how many of us think about the end result without documenting each step or at least the ones we recognize. You have a goal, but there are many objectives before crossing the finish line. Completing each step successfully motivates you to move forward.

2. Take a friend to breakfast or lunch for a dual brainstorming session. Solo owners understand that the answer is not always in our own heads. Friends who are also in business act as private advisory boards. They provide alternative ideas and what-if scenarios that help us lessen marketing mistakes. That’s always motivating and worth more the meal’s cost.

3. Learn from a podcast. Never did we dream that access to information would be as accessible as it is now. Technology has gone beyond providing ideas in text form and on CDs. Now you can play a podcast by computer, listening in the background while you work. The subjects are unlimited, with podcasts available on numerous marketing topics.

Today I’m motivated to develop several speaking programs, research the names of new contacts at three facilities, and invite a friend to join me at a seminar I learned about by mail.

Find your motivation through the above ideas, in things that surround you, or by getting out of the office to refresh your mind and spirit.

Technorati Tags: small business marketing, solo business marketing, small business owner, solo business owner, motivation, podcasting

If the information shared here benefits your success, please subscribe to my RSS feed!

September 28, 2006 | Filed Under Offline Ideas, Online Ideas, Recent Entries, Solo Housekeeping | Leave a Comment

Lists Keep Marketing Projects on Track

Like many small and solo business owners, my day starts with consulting an organized list of tasks, some that are finished and others still to be done. I’ve been so busy that there’s been no time to create a new page.

Right now I’m looking at writing with squiggles and cross-out lines on top. It symbolizes progress, but it’s also messy. Does your to-do list look the same?

Yesterday, I completed two of the three speaking proposals. It’s amazing how time passes without finishing what you consider to be easy tasks. But creating proposals from scratch isn’t easy.

Lots of thought goes into putting together the best proposal possible. Then you press the “send” button while holding your breath, hoping that you haven’t overlooked anything. Most times I wait 10 minutes before sending as a precaution.

Today I’ll Email the last proposal, create and order postcards to follow up the brochures sent earlier this week, add a post on the Laughing Chow blog (photography is my pastime), finalize one project by telephone, and attend a teleseminar.

Speaking of pastimes, an article entitled, “Give Yourself the Gift of Time” arrived in my Email. Jeanette Cates encourages business owners to pencil in time for vacation as part of our success planning.

What’s on your agenda?

Technorati Tags: solo business owner, small business marketing, small business owner, solo business marketing

If the information shared here benefits your success, please subscribe to my RSS feed!

September 27, 2006 | Filed Under Recent Entries, Solo Housekeeping | Leave a Comment

Moving Forward with Marketing Tasks

Yesterday I provided insight into my week’s marketing projects. I was able to pack and mail the brochures, but the day became very productive with new tasks, and I didn’t visit the bookstore. I’ll combine that trip with another errand later in the week.

Today’s marketing tasks include finalizing the details for three speaking engagements in 2007, fulfilling an order, and writing a note of thanks to a friend who treated me to lunch and business tips on Wednesday.

This morning I made time to review some marketing magazines and online newsletters that arrived last Friday. Here’s what I found.

The New York Enterprise Report features an article entitled, “How to Always Pitch a Strike,” in the September/October issue. Written by Alan Siege, it focuses on the “elevator speech” or, alternatively phrased, how to make a connection in 30 seconds or less.

While reviewing an Ezine, I found a link to an article on Harvey Mackay’s Web site. Mackay is best known for the book, Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. The link did not work, but I reviewed the site and found many great marketing tips and ideas that should be bookmarked. Check out Mackay’s weekly column.

What’s on your plate as you continue moving forward with your projects? Post it here. Perhaps we can offer another perspective or solution or simply cheer you on. I’ll return tomorrow for updates.

Technorati Tags: The New York Enterprise Report, Harvey Mackay, Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, small business marketing, solo business marketing, small business owner

If the information shared here benefits your success, please subscribe to my RSS feed!

September 26, 2006 | Filed Under Marketing News, Problems & Solutions, Recent Entries, Solo Housekeeping | Leave a Comment